Kumar, S.K. 1991. Adoption of Hybrid Maize in Zambia:
Effects on Gender Roles, Food Consumption, and
Nutrition. Research Report 100. Washington, D.C.:
IFPRI.
This publication reports on one of the few studies that
specifically examines the welfare effects of the adoption of
hybrid maize at a household and intrahousehold level. It
examines the farm household-level factors that influence the
adoption of hybrid maize and the use of fertilizer, and the
impacts of the adoption of hybrid maize on food
consumption and children’s nutrition. The author
concludes that policies that support women’s participation
in making decisions and producing improved grain varieties
could improve efficiency, household food consumption, and
children’s nutrition.
Kumwenda, J.D.T., S.R. Waddington, S.S. Snapp, R.B.
Jones, and M.J. Blackie. 1996. Soil Fertility
Management Research for the Maize Cropping Systems of
Smallholders in Southern Africa: A Review. NRG 96-02.
Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT.
Increased population and pressure on available land have
led to a decrease in traditional fallowing practices. In many
areas of southern Africa, maize is now cropped
continuously. The present challenge of improving
productivity without compromising sustainability is so great
that farmers will need to combine gains from improved
germplasm with complementary improvements in soil
fertility. Farmers face many constraints to improving soil
fertility. Inorganic fertilizer is expensive and households are
cash-constrained. Organic sources of nutrients, such as
legumes, may be useful, but the potential of these
technologies is rarely realized on farmers’ fields. In this
paper, a model for soil fertility research and extension is
developed, which includes the use of both organic and
inorganic sources of nutrients and involves the active
participation of farmers in improving soil fertility. Although
the authors clearly acknowledge that women may be the
farmers and decision-makers in smallholder farms, no
specific attention is paid to the different constraints that
may face male and female farmers.
Ladipo, P. 1991. Looking beyond the farm for gender
issues in FSRE. Journal for Farming Systems Research
Extension 2(2): 39-49.
Based on studies of a maize project in 10 Yoruba villages
near Ile-Ife, Nigeria, this paper examines gender issues in
the maize system. The author concludes that program
interventions at any point in the food system result in
changes along all other points. In particular, gender issues
in post-harvest processes may affect production. This paper
proposes an approach to include all members in the
community in the processes of research and extension to
anticipate gender issues.
Lado, C. 1992. Female labour participation in agricultural
production and the implications for nutrition and health
in rural Africa. Social Science and Medicine 34(7): 789-
807.
This paper examines the effect of colonial practices regarding
land and labor on food production in Africa. The authors
note the potential impacts of policy changes on health and
nutrition as these affect women’s incomes and workloads. In
addition, they emphasize the interaction between health and
agricultural productivity. This article is fairly general,
spanning both time and the continent, but it makes some
useful points about the potential relationships among
women’s agricultural labor, health, and nutrition.
Lassiter, G. 1981. Cropping Enterprises in Eastern Upper
Volta. Washington, D.C.: Department of Agricultural
Economics, USAID.
This report provides data on six of the major cropping
enterprises used in Burkina Faso during the 1978/79
agricultural year based on a farm-level survey of 480
households. An overview of the 1978 season describes the
major characteristics of agriculture in Burkina Faso and
attempts to form a historical perspective. Unfortunately, the
lack of background data on yields, soils, and rainfall makes
economic analysis of a single season extremely difficult.
Detailed crop enterprise budgets are provided for six crops in
each survey zone. The budgets reveal the low productivity of
agriculture in Burkina Faso, especially for cotton and
groundnut. Although maize and soybean have higher
productivity, production is limited. Maize is an important
crop during the “hungry period,” but it provides little
marketable surplus. Soybean production is constrained by
the limited marketing opportunities. Rice production
showed the highest returns. Although expansion of rice
production would not be difficult technically, rice
production is constrained by the lack of an outside market
and low local demand. Yields of sorghum/millet are low and
unstable due to rainfall variability. The author concludes that
technology development efforts should be aimed at sorghum
and millet.
Levi, J. 1987. Time, money and food: Household economics
and African agriculture. Africa 57(3): 377-83.
This article is a review of Alan Low’s book, Agricultural
Development in Southern Africa: Farm Household Economics
and the Food Crisis. Although the review is favorable, the
reviewer notes that the household models that focus on the
allocation of time miss an important point. Time spent
working does not have a constant incremental subjective
cost. People do not simply want to save time in agricultural
production, but they want to save the time that is most
costly. The value of a unit of time varies by season and by
activity.
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